Definition of "leach" in English

noun

1. A quantity of wood ashes, through which water passes, and thus imbibes the alkali.

2. A tub or vat for leaching ashes, bark, etc.

3. (nautical) Alternative spelling of leech.

4. A jelly-like sweetmeat popular in the fifteenth century.

verb

1. (transitive) To purge a soluble matter out of something by the action of a percolating fluid.

   • Heavy rainfall can leach out minerals important for plant growth from the soil.

2. (intransitive) To part with soluble constituents by percolation.

   • The gangue was leached to recover minerals left behind by the original technology.

3. (figurative, intransitive) To bleed; to seep.